Ward says he’ll be back next season

After a turn-back-the-clock game that ended with a disappointing outcome Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward said he has no plans to retire.

“I’ll be back,” Ward said after the Steelers’ 31-25 loss to the Green Bay in Super Bowl XLV. “I’m not going anywhere.”

Ward, 34, played one of his best games of the season and looked anything but aging in catching seven passes for 78 yards and a touchdown.

Those were his most receiving yards since going over 100 in a win against the Bengals on Dec. 12. Ward also became just the sixth player in NFL receiver with at least 10 touchdown catches in postseason play

Ward, the MVP of Super Bowl XL, took no consolation in individual accolades or the fight the Steelers showed while climbing back from an 18-point deficit.

The Steelers had a chance to win the game at the end after getting the back with two minutes, seven left in the game.

They would have had the ball at their own 26-yard line but an unnecessary roughness call on special teams captain Keyaron Fox cost them 13 yards. The Steelers never mounted a serious drive and turned the ball over on downs.

“I had a feeling we were going to do it again,” Ward said of another late Steelers comeback. “But we should have never been in that situation. We felt like whoever had the ball last was going to win the game. We just came up short and hats off to (the) Green Bay Packers.”